you don't know me

you don't know me (2008)
Directed by Sean Melia


Awesome short film. I love how clean and concise it is.

Watch it here.

Image from SeanMelia.com

So Michael, an old college friend is having a party and Neil and his girlfriend Stefanie come over. Neil is trying to become YouTube famous so he's devised a plane to get more views than ever. He plants some Flip cameras around his friend's house, and waits for the party to end.

When it's over and everyone else is gone, Neil goes to get his friend. He tells Michael that there's been... an accident. In Michael's room where Neil and Stefanie went to screw, like Stefanie. She's dead, Neil claims. Calmly Michael goes back downstairs and gets a beer for Neil. Then they talk about how they'll get rid of the body.

Michael gets a saw, a knife, garbage bags, and suitcases. He plans to drain Stefanie, cut her up, and roll her out of the place. Has Michael done this before? They go back to the bedroom. "Neil, what's going on?" Stefanie, alive, asks Neil in a panic. "Stefanie, run!"

A simple plan to scare Michael nuts and get it on camera has revealed that he's not who they thought at all.

Michael goes after Niel first, closing Stefanie into the bedroom. Soon he returns to the door.

"Is this part of the movie?"
"Yes! Yes, this is part of the movie," Michael answers.
Stefanie huddles with the sheets, and a motor of some kind is heard beyond the door...

~~~

Incredibly low budget, but this simple story doesn't call for a huge one anyway. I enjoyed it. I though Michael's (played by Michael Hogan) acting was good. I would have like a crisper picture, cleaner sound, and a little better lighting, but they're not bad in a way that distracts. It's a great short that could be greater with these changes is all. I think this is an inspiration to young filmmakers who are trying to do it all on their own and do it well. You don't have to have amazing cameras or special effects. At the core, it's about a well-said story. A horror movie that didn't show any violence, but got it's fear factor from the implications.

I don't know much about the director, Sean Melia. The IMDB page is pretty barren and there hasn't been any recent talk about him online that I've found. I hope to see his name more though. He seems to be pretty to-the-point in his art, as evident by no superfluous junk in this short, as well as his web site.

Image from http://www.openfilm.com/reviews/videos/meliasean-you-dont-know-me

So yes, very good, very good. Would recommend.